Hostage-taker James Jay Lee Disliked Discovery Channel Programming

Should all network channels take note? This is what’s running in my mind after finding out that the latest hostage-taker, James Jay Lee, resorted to such a drastic move of taking on hostages and strapping explosives on his body apparently because he did not like Discovery Channel’s programming.

The gunman, who the police shot to death, said he hated the company’s shows such as “Kate Plus 8” (because the show promotes population growth) and its environmental programming (because it did little to save the planet).

The three hostages, two of them Discovery Communications employees and a security guard, escaped unhurt after the four-hour standoff on Wednesday in Silver Spring, Md.

Police said the gunman burst into the building about 1p.m. and took the hostages in the lobby on the first floor. Aside from a hand-gun, an explosive device was strapped on his body which detonated when police shot him.

Police are trying to determine whether two boxes and two backpacks the gunman had also contained explosives. The authorities later sent in a robot to disarm a device on the gunman’s body.

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